Reed slipped to third in the Saracens Herts League Division 2, a small handful of points behind both Flitwick and Berkhamsted as they were unlucky to close in on victory against Radlett IIs on Saturday.
Winning the toss, and electing to bat, Reed amassed 235 for 6 off 52 overs, but could not take Radlett’s final wicket as they battled for a draw, their score on 199 for 9 off their 48 over reply.
Reed’s innings got off to a strong start as James Heslam (41) found his feet with a superb measured innings in partnership with Baz Curtis (53). Curtis made his mark early as he despatched opening bowler R Watson (3-0-29-0) for 14 in the first over of the day, including a six off the second ball of the game over extra cover. The momentum did not stop as fellow opener G Dill (5-0-31-0) also suffered. It allowed Reed to race to 93 for 0 off just 18 overs. However, despite Curtis’ trademark drives, and Heslam’s battlingly classical shot selection, H Paynter (18-3-59-3), with his nagging medium pace, built some pressurising momentum in conjunction with J Chaudry’s off spin (19-4-58-1). It was the ultimate demise for the pair as they miscued a pull stroke from a poor short delivery off Paynter to be caught at mid wicket. Curtis shortly followed up as he was trapped LBW with the score on 98.
However, Chris Jackson (38) and Phil Frenay (10) continued in strong form, picking the bad deliveries and blocking the better ones. When Frenay was also trapped LBW by Paynter, Reed looked to be losing wickets at key moments when batsmen should have been advancing their innings. Tom Fulk (58*) continued in Frenay’s shoes, as he started slowly, but expanded with some aggressive strokes progressing the score as overs waned. Chris Jackson was soon bowled by A Nawab (5-0-21-2), which brought William Clarke (10) to the crease. He started brightly hitting 10 off 9 deliveries, until he was caught at long on. Yet, Fulk recognised the urgency of the situation, punishing deliveries through the covers at will. When Marcus Martin was adjudged LBW for 8 off the bowling of Chaudry in his second spell, Heslam called in his batsmen off 52 overs.
Reed’s reply began brightly as A Tillett (10) was victim for a mix up with his opening partner, plus a direct hit from Ed Garrott leaving Radlett on 8-1. However, the true batting surface, and the difficulty in taking wickets was evident as William Clarke (8-1-37-1) toiled with the old ball in conjunction with Peter Tidey (21-3-52-3). The second wicket did not come until Andrew Young (8-0-20-3) was brought into the attack with the new ball trapping Choksi (30) LBW after a confident and fluent stay at the crease. But S Gray (78) batted with class and time, as he looked comfortable at the crease, displaying an array of shots all around the wicket. But the game twisted again when Andrew Young bagged two cheap middle order wickets to leave Radlett on 72-4.
Then, a sharp run out from skipper James Heslam with a direct hit, saw Gray back to the pavilion after an excellent innings. D Robinson (46) and P Chaudry (17) then cashed in one some loose bowling from Phil Frenay (1-0-8-0) and Marcus Martin (1-0-20-0), giving Radlett some hope to win the game. They played some expansive strokes which helped offer them false hope as Tidey was reintroduced to the attack thanks to a miscued drive from Robinson and a catch from Heslam at mid-on. Tidey then followed up with the wicket of Chaudry and Khan (2) to give Reed some hope in the final overs. Clarke in his second spell then had Paynter (0) caught by Heslam at mid off, leaving Watson (0*) and Warne (0*) to bat out for the draw, Reed unable to take the final wicket, but take 19 points from the victory.
Skipper James Heslam commented: “We were desperately close to winning today, and it’s a real shame for us that we didn’t. We batted well on a belting track, and despite Radlett showing glimpses of class batting, we stuck to our task well to get them 9 wickets down”
